Smokey Night by Eve Bunting, ill. by David Diaz. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 1994. ISBN: 9780152018849

 

 

  Annotation: During the Los Angeles riots, Daniel, his mother, and neighbours are forced to a shelter, and learn to get along and help each other, despite or because of fire and lost cats

 

  Media: paintings done in acrylics on Arches watercolour paper, with the background collages composed and photographed by the illustrator

 

  Rating: 4Q/3P

 

  Curricular connections: Los Angeles Riots, History, Social studies, Art

 

  Grade level: Upper Elementary

 

lss  August/2009

 

 

Smoky Night by Eve Bunting and David Diaz, ill. San Diego, CA: Harcourt, 1994.

ISBN: 978-0-7587-0073-5  

Annotation: In this Caldecott winning book from 1995, during a night of rioting, Daniel and his mother are forced to leave their apartment for the safety of a shelter. When Daniel's apartment building goes up in flames, all of the neighbors, including the pets, learn the value of bridging differences.

 

 

Media: mixed media collage and acrylic painting with black outlining

Rating: 4Q/4P

RAC 7.27.09

 

 

 

 

 

Citation:  Smoky Night by Eve Bunting and David Diaz, ill.  San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994.

ISBN:  978-0-15-201884-9.

Annotation:  Daniel’s apartment is set on fire during the L.A. riots.  His cat and Mrs. Kim’s cat go missing.  At the Shelter, he realizes that his family should reach out to Mrs. Kim just like the cats did in order to survive. 

Media: Acrylic painting and Collage: Each page has a dramatic acrylic painting done in bright reds, blues, and yellows. The figures are outlined in black. Behind each page of text is a collage that enhances the text.

Personal Rating: 5Q/4P

Curricular Connections:  This is a poignant book about tolerance and racism.  Bunting describes the L.A. riots from the point-of-view of a child who just wants to find his cat.  The lesson that people should help each other and work together is never preachy.  This is an excellent read aloud for older readers because it teaches about the L.A. riots in a way that children would understand it.  It was a Caldecott Award Winner for 1995, an A.L.A Notable Children’s Book, and a Parent’s Choice Winner.  It is a good book to teach “Friendship” and “Tolerance”, so it would fit nicely with a lesson on social kindness.  It is a great tool for teaching theme and figurative language in an English class. The themes of racism, tolerance, diversity, the love of a boy for his cat, and peace would make good discussion questions for an English class.  Also, students could learn about simile, alliteration, and personification.  The first-person narration and use of dialogue are also effective and could be used as a lesson in an English class on narrative point-of-view and narrative writing.

Subject: Social Studies: L.A. riots and how to teach peace. Language Arts: Theme and figurative language. 

Grade Level or Age Range: 5^th-8^th Grade or Middle School

Literary Devices:  This book has excellent literary devices. Bunting has Daniel, the narrator, vividly describe the L.A. riots and the fire using these literary devices.

Similes: Bunting has Daniel use smiles to describe the damage that the L.A. riots make. For example, Daniel says, “Smoke drifts, light as fog.” He also describes the looting using similes like, “They toss out shoes like they’re throwing footballs.”

Alliteration: Bunting has Daniel use alliteration to describe the fire during the riot. He says, “I see the distant flicker of flames”. This is effective because the sounds run together like the fire that spreads.

Personification:  Daniel personifies the fire as if the fire is a character. He says “Flames pounce up the side of our building”.

By: Joanne Maher (June 28th, 2009)

 

 

The artwork is acrylic paintings and photographs.   

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring people together and the innocence of a young boy to make adults realize their mistakes. 

* Grade: 6-12, Subject: Social Studies, LA Riots.

 

jw 05/06/08